In a not so surprising story, it turns out this poor, cis, straight, white man only really cares about intersectionality for poor, cis, straight, white men.
“I totally get intersectionality,” 28-year-old Devon Porter, who didn’t grow up, like, rich rich, told reporters. “Living poor is such a struggle.”
He continued, clearly wanting to explain something to someone, saying, “Intersectionality is a tool used to understand how different forms of discrimination and inequality can compound to create unique obstacles that might not be apparent upon first thought.”
He expounded upon this, unsurprisingly, by using an example that related directly to his own experience.
“So, I’m a white man, but I’m poor, so I don’t have the same opportunities as other white men who are rich,” he said, in a tone that suggested he wanted reporters to feel sorry for him. “Life is just more difficult for me.”
However, when it comes to other aspects of intersectionality, such as race, gender, sexuality, and ability, Devon said he didn’t really know about all that.
“Everyone’s pretty much equal,” he said. “I’ve always said that. Except for poor people. Now, they’re at a serious disadvantage in society.”
When asked if perhaps he was only able to relate to his direct experiences, Devon only doubled down.
“That’s not true!” he said. “I speak for every lower middle class white man in America.”
Seeing that they weren’t getting through to him, like, at all, reporters tried a different route, asking him simply whether he thought a poor woman of color might experience difficulties that he, a poor white man, might not.
“She’s poor?” he said, immediately latching onto the wrong piece of information. “Then I’d say our experiences are probably pretty much identical. Being poor sucks.”
By this point, reporters were visibly struggling to not roll their eyes.
As of press time, Devon hadn’t broadened his understanding of intersectionality at all, but he did randomly say that he would never hire a woman, which reporters decided to take as a win.
“Even if he doesn’t realize it, at least he’s unintentionally admitting that women face discrimination for simply being women,” said one reporter, shrugging. “Look, I need to have some sort of positive takeaway from this conversation or I’ll lose my mind. Please just let me have this.”
